Sofia Talvik | |
|---|---|
 Talvik in 2023 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Sofia Karolina Talvik |
| Born | 24 November 1978 |
| Origin | Gothenburg, Västra Götaland County, Sweden |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter |
| Instruments | Guild D25 |
| Years active | 2004–present |
| Labels | Makaki Music |
| Website | www |
Sofia Talvik (born 24 November 1978 in Gothenburg, Västra Götaland County) is a Swedish musician and singer-songwriter. Her music often blends elements of folk and americana; she also uses a lot of acoustic instruments in her songs, including violins, cellos, and acoustic guitar.
Career
Talvik released her debut album, Blue Moon, in 2005. It was recorded and produced entirely by Talvik herself, taking just 40 hours to record.
Her second album, Street of Dreams, was released in 2007, and features Bernard Butler, guitarist in former British band Suede on the track "It's Just Love", the first single to be released from the album. Talvik had been looking for a partner with whom to duet on the single, and contacted Butler via MySpace while working on the album.
Her third album, Jonestown, was released at the end of August 2008 and is the second album released on her own record label Makaki Music. The album and title track are named after the sanctuary built by the cult Peoples Temple (founded by pastor Jim Jones), where over 900 people committed suicide. Jonestown was produced by Swedish artist Tobias Fröberg who also produced Peter Morén from Peter Bjorn and John.
In August 2008, Talvik became the first Swedish female artist to play the Lollapalooza festival in Chicago, Illinois.[1] Florida is Sofia Talvik's fourth album, which was released in May 2010, and was partially written during a time when Talvik lived in Orlando, Florida, though it was recorded back in Stockholm, Sweden.
In 2010, Talvik (along with Wille Crafoord and Mange Schmidt) performed an official song for the Swedish election, supporting the Prime Minister and the leading Swedish party Moderaterna.[2] During 2011, Sofia Talvik released four EPs that formed the project L.O.V.E. Another project called H.A.T.E, (four rock bands covering each of the EPs) was also released alongside L.O.V.E. The participating bands were Ball of Mayhem, UK, and G.A.I.N, Badmouth and Akribi from Sweden. All the releases in the L.O.V.E project were fan funded[3]
On 31 January 2012, Sofia Talvik released her fifth album, "The Owls Are Not What They Seem" – a largely acoustic album featuring reworked versions of the new tracks from the L.O.V.E project. The title is taken from the TV show Twin Peaks by David Lynch.
Sofia Talvik embarked on her US tour "Drivin' & Dreaming" in December 2011.[4] The tour went on for 1,5 years. In May 2012 Sofia did her 100th show on the tour at Pianos in New York City. Talvik released her first Daytrotter session on 21 September 2012[5] where she covered the song Wichita Lineman by Jimmy Webb and the song "So" an original by Talvik which was later released on her 2015 album Big Sky Country.
In October 2013, Talvik released a book called "Drivin' & Dreaming – One artist's odyssey through America" about her U.S tour. She also released a live album, "Drivin' & Dreaming LIVE" with recordings made on the tour. Talvik released Big Sky Country, her 6th full-length album with original songs partially inspired by long U.S tour, and a cover of Buffy Sainte-Marie's Starwalker, in April 2015.[6] A Christmas album called "When Winter Comes" was released in 2017. The album is a collection of 14 self written Christmas songs that Sofia Talvik has been releasing for free to her fans in the end of the year since several years back. "Paws of a Bear" is a full length studio album that was released in 2019, it features a lot of beautiful pedal steel played by Tim Fleming.
In August 2023, Talvik released Center of the Universe. With North Carolinian musicians Peyton Clifford and Drake Duffer on accordion, guitar, and mandolin, and Swede Janne Manninen on bass, the group recorded the album in a self-built studio in an old house in Sulegång, Sweden.[7] Center of the Universe charted as no 14 on USA Folk Radio Charts in August 2023
The album was considered for a Grammy nomination in the category Best Folk Album.[8]
Discography
Albums
- 2005 – Blue Moon
- 2007 – Street of Dreams
- 2007 – Street of Dreamix
- 2008 – Jonestown
- 2010 – Florida
- 2010 – Florida Acoustic
- 2012 – The Owls Are Not What They Seem
- 2013 – Drivin' & Dreaming LIVE
- 2015 – Big Sky Country
- 2016 – Acoustic (Florida, The Owls Are Not What They Seem, Big Sky Country)
- 2017 – When Winter Comes
- 2019 – Paws of a Bear
- 2020 - Paws of a Bear Unplugged
- 2023 - Center of the Universe
EPs
References
- ↑ Henrik Arvidsson Swedish newspaper "Dagens Nyheter" 25 August 2008.
- ↑ Anna Klaesson Official party homepage. 9 June 2010.
- ↑ Pledgemusic.com 2011.
- ↑ Scene Magazine Cleveland 2012.
- ↑ Daytrotter
- ↑ Rust Magazine 2015.
- ↑ Sofia Talvik Official website, 2023.
- ↑ Talvik, Sofia (14 October 2023). "Why the Grammy for Best Folk Album should not go to an American this year". Sofia Talvik - Americana / Folk with Swedish Roots. Retrieved 14 October 2023.